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French prosecutors call for jail for Sarkozy in corruption trial

The 65-year-old former president is accused of having tried to illegally obtain information from a senior magistrate in 2014 about an investigation involving him.

La rédaction de Mediapart

This article is freely available.

French prosecutors on Tuesday requested two years of prison and a two-year suspended sentence for former President Nicolas Sarkozy in a landmark corruption and influence peddling trial in Paris, reports The Washington Post.

The 65-year-old Sarkozy is accused of having tried to illegally obtain information from a senior magistrate in 2014 about an investigation involving him.

Prosecutors requested the same sentence for Sarkozy’s codefendants — his lawyer and friend Thierry Herzog and magistrate Gilbert Azibert. All three denied wrongdoing.

Defense lawyers will speak on Wednesday and Thursday. The verdict is expected at a later date.

It’s the first time Sarkozy, president from 2007-2012, is facing trial, though the conservative politician is the target of multiple investigations.

 Sarkozy and Herzog are suspected of promising Azibert a job in Monaco in exchange for leaking confidential information about an investigation into suspected illegal financing in the 2007 presidential campaign.

Read more of this report from The Washington Post.